East Lyme — State and East Lyme police took an individual into custody late Wednesday evening following an hours-long standoff at St. Matthias Church, according to First Selectman Paul Formica, who was at the scene.

Dozens of heavily armed state police troopers surrounded the church earlier in the evening in a standoff with a person police described as a "despondent subject" inside the church.

Witnesses said they first noticed the police presence shortly before 7 p.m. State and East Lyme police cruisers lined the long entrance to the church at 317 Chesterfield Road, which is barely visible from the road.

Neighbors said police used a loudspeaker, trying to coax the individual out of the church.

Police reinforcements started arriving at around 8:40 p.m. and included a dozen more police units, K-9 units and members of a specialized state police tactical unit who arrived in trucks and an armored vehicle.

The entrance to the church was cordoned off with yellow crime-scene tape as troopers unpacked assault rifles and donned armored vests. An ambulance waited at the church entrance.

No further information was available as of 10:15 p.m. Wednesday. Formica said the investigation was ongoing and the individual was unarmed when taken into custody.